Dear Bugaboo

The Dress

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   Marinette stared in awe at herself in the body-length mirror.

The ladybug-themed gown fit her nicely and flowed elegantly, barely scraping the floor. The material's texture wasn't itchy or scratchy against her skin, perfectly comfortable like a second layer of skin. She even fawned over the two pockets she sewed into the sides of the dress.

   She absolutely loved it, deeming it her best creation by far and couldn't wait to show it off at the dance.

   Marinette grabbed the red mask from off of her desk, remembering the sweet boy that bought it for her. A soft smile creased her lips, placing the mask over her face and let the elastic string hug the back of her temple. Bluebell eyes gazed at the mirror's reflection, seeing the love and hard work put into this style of clothing.

The bluenette felt confident and prideful as she did a couple of poses. Yet, she paused and suddenly felt a little slack. Marinette had almost forgotten that she would be meeting Chat Noir in person for the first time. She was nervous and hoped things would go well (even prayed that he wasn't some creep posing as a teenager).

A knock came from Marinette's trap door, making the said girl jump two feet in the air and raced to hide behind her divider. The trap door opened, Celine popping her head into the room.

"Mari bear?" her aunt called, walking into the room and shut the door behind her, "You in here?"

"Yeah, but I'm kind of busy right now," Marinette replied, slipping off her mask. Celine blinked and was silent for a moment.

"I don't think hitting on boys counts as being busy, considering you're flirting...isn't the best," she jokingly replied, "but if it's a hot guy, you know where to find me."

Marinette could feel her aunt wink, the imagery causing heat to enflame the teen's cheeks and kind of regretting laying out the details of what happened with Luka (leaving out the pen pal parts).

"Aunt Celine!" She whined, getting a laugh from the said redheaded woman.

"Anyways..." Celine started, calming down and a short pause leading afterward. Marinette was almost curious enough to peek around the edge of her divider to see what her aunt was up too.

Yet, stayed hidden from sight as to not run the risk of ruining the completed dress surprise. She was determined to show it off to everyone the day of the dance.

"...I wanted to tell you something," Celine spoke, a foreign seriousness laced in her tone. Marinette grew worried for her fun-loving aunt. She was always mischievous and playful, never had Marinette heard the woman be anything less than that. It kind of scared the bluenette.

"But..." Celine continued, quickly and fiddled with her hands, "you're busy right now and it's going to take quite some time to explain everything. So, I'll leave you be."

Marinette heard the squeaking of the trap door being opened, causing her to panic. It was then that she didn't care about hiding her dress and stepped out from behind the divider.

"Wait!" The bluenette called, causing Celine to stop taking a step further down the stairs and shot her eyes up at Marinette. The redheaded woman gaped, then shut the door upon realization.

   "Sorry, I know how much you wanted your dress to be a surprise," Celine apologized, letting out a sigh, "Luckily, there are no fire alarms in this room, you'd be setting them off like crazy with your smokin' looks."

   Marinette sheepishly smiled at her aunt's compliment, gaze lingering on the floor.

   "Thank you," the teen said before concern creased her features and looked up to face her aunt, "What do you want to tell me?"

   Celine's gleeful personality was soon being forced and winced, seeing the concern on her niece's face. The woman shook her head and waved off the question.

   "It's nothing..." she spoke, "I—uh, we can wait another time. For now, you go change out of this dress and I'll keep Tikki from coming in. There's a good chance she's looking for me right now-"

   Celine was cut off when the trap door was violently pushed open. The two jumped at the sudden loud crash and had little time to react to the red blur that ran into the room.

   "I completed the "steal cookies and macarons from the bakery" mission, mama," Tikki proudly proclaimed, loud enough for the whole apartment to hear, "The Dupain-Chengs will never know that they're mis-"

   Tikki finally processed the scene bestowed before her and gasped, wildly pointing at Marinette.

   "Were you secretly a princess this whole time, Marinette..." Tikki asked. Then, she added with a scoff, "and never told me?"

Marinette and Celine looked at Tikki with a fond smile. The bluenette shut the trap door then knelt to Tikki's level. Bluebell eyes playfully looked around before Marinette leaned to whisper into the Tikki's ear, "Yeah, but it's classified information between the three of us. No one else must know my identity until Wednesday afternoon. Alright?"

Tikki gasped, almost dropping her stolen goodies. She nodded, zipping her lips.

"I won't tell a soul," Tikki promised before turning to her mother, "Can we complete the mission, mommy?"

"Of course, my little cadet. You made the motherland proud," Celine said, guiding Tikki towards the trap door, "Now, we'll leave Princess Marinette to attend to some royal business."

Just like that, Celine and Tikki were gone. Marinette was left standing in her room, worried for her aunt and wondered what important thing she was going to say.

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   "It looks like the police found your secret little lair, Hawky."

   Gabriel was reading an article in the newspaper about the discovery of his hideout before looking up at his snickering inmate. Gabriel didn't give an immediate response, looking back down at the story he was reading.

   "It seems they have, but it was only a matter of time before that happened. I assume they're still trying to open my safe," he said, getting a confused look from his inmate.

   "You knew that they would find it?" His inmate asked. Gabriel nodded, "Of course, but the police are not the ones who found it."

   "What? How would you know?" His inmate huffed. The newspaper was tossed his way before Gabriel explained, "It's written in the article, idiot."

His inmate looked between the paper and Gabriel before giving a slight nod of the head to continue. Gabriel folded his hands on the table and straighten his posture as a way of intimidating his inmate. Steely, cold eyes looked dead straight into the guy sitting across the table.

"The same person who discovered my second identity and the only one who can open that high-tech safe," Gabriel explained, a sinister grin forming his sharp features.

"My son."

His inmate didn't seem to believe him, blankly raising an eyebrow. He let out a sigh, "You know what, how about we just get to the point. Why did you want to see me?"

"I need your help with something," Gabriel answered, not missing a beat. His inmate's eyes narrowed, asking, "With what?"

"A diversion to escape. Rest assured, your reward will be your freedom as well," Gabriel said. His inmate seemed to be intrigued by the offer.

"Alright," his inmate agreed, "What kind of diversion are we talking about here?"

"A prison riot," The ex-designer answered, "But, this will need to be perfectly timed and planned if we are to succeed. This has to stay between the two of us, anymore people may ruin our chances."

His inmate chuckled, madly grinning, "This is why you're my favorite. I'm in."

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